The in universe music of Star Wars

[Zonker]

So I've been getting really into the music of the Star Wars and I'm consistently impressed with John Williams' ability to create music that contributes to the mood of the scene while also being distinctive and memorable. Lately I've been especially enamored with the concept of diegetic music, or music that happens in universe. I love the way it implies and hints at all these alien cultures that we see only peripherally. It really makes the universe feel bigger and more exotic than just the parts we see.
Because of that I decided I wanted to put all of the in universe Star Wars music together in one place. But frankly there's a lot of it, and as more movies come out we will see more and more of it. So I decided on a small video of the music of Tatooine.

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Are there any in universe pieces of music you find particularly compelling? The Cantina band song is of course the most well known, but I'm really partial to the Ewok victory music at the end of the special edition of Return of the Jedi.

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[Turtletrekker]

They were playing a mellow tune at Maz Kanata's watering hole.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Found it. Interestingly enough, apparently it's not actually on the TFA soundtrack as it wasn't actually written by John Williams. It was a collaboration between Abrams and Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame. It is, however, available in iTunes.

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[Reverend]

There was also this very hair metal sounding number in 'Rebels'.

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and of course a up-beat parade version of the Imperial March.

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ETA: btw, if one wants to hear a clean version of 'Jabba Flow', it's up on starwars.com.

 

[JD]

Is the above video the first time we've heard The Imperial March as a piece of in universe music?
Lin Manuel Miranda and JJ Abrams (lol, I actually started to type Jabba Adams there) did a live performance of Jabba Flow on last May 4th.

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Figrrin D'An and the Modal Nodes' song from A New Hope. This is actually the first time I've heard the whole song by itself.

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Lapti Nek and Jedi Rocks from Return of the Jedi:

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I'm not really sure if this one counts, but here's Yub Nub from the original version of Return of the Jedi:

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[Ithekro]

I think a battle droid hums some bars of the Imperial March during an episode of the Clone Wars.

 

[JD]

They're not Star Wars, but these are a couple favorites of mine and I can't resist posting them.
The Pod People's Party from The Dark Crystal (I don't know the name of the song)

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Cucumbers in Space (music from Quark's in the Star Trek: DS9 pilot, Emissary)

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[Ithekro]

More memories of 1982....

It was a good year for sci-fi, adventure, and fantasy films.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Clone Wars 4.20, "Bounty", a tune is being played in a familiar cantina on Tatooine...

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[publiusr]

To me--the near Gregorian chant from Squid Lake was my favorite
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Squid_Lake

 

[Turtletrekker]

To me--the near Gregorian chant from Squid Lake was my favorite
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Squid_Lake

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[JD]

Was that supposed to be the music from the opera? I'd always assumed it was just part of the regular movie score.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Resurrecting this old thread to mention that in Solo: A Star Wars Story, you can hear the Imperial March playing during an Imperial recruitment commercial.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, I caught that. Thought it was kind of funny.

 

[Kor]

Some of the musical phrasing in the in-universe version of the march was changed to sound a little less ominous.

Kor

 

[Smellmet]

Resurrecting this old thread to mention that in Solo: A Star Wars Story, you can hear the Imperial March playing during an Imperial recruitment commercial.

I thought that was genius. Great Easter egg.

 

[Reverend]

ETA:
While we're on the subject of anthems; anyone else feel it's a safe bet that the Throne Room theme is meant to be diegetic? I mean that whole ceremony would be really weird if it was all carried out in utter silence, no? So if it is then one would think that it's a theme that has some particular meaning to the Alliance. The anthem of the Republic perhaps? Or maybe the Old Republic?

I think I'd rather it be the latter case and for the former be a similarly arranged, major key version of this theme, which I like to think would make sense both from a thematic (because the Empire is a corrupted version of the Republic) and a continuity standpoint (it's basically the same, just with a few extra flourishes.)

I thought that was genius. Great Easter egg.

It's not even the first time they've done it.

 

[Smellmet]

So I gather, it was the first time I've been exposed to the gag though, and I loved it.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

ETA:
While we're on the subject of anthems; anyone else feel it's a safe bet that the Throne Room theme is meant to be diegetic? I mean that whole ceremony would be really weird if it was all carried out in utter silence, no? So if it is then one would think that it's a theme that has some particular meaning to the Alliance. The anthem of the Republic perhaps? Or maybe the Old Republic?

It's a great question, one I've wondered about before, but I'd have to say that the answer is: "not literally," or at least "not entirely," because it would crash right through the fourth wall as it seamlessly makes its transition into the closing credits. That transition begins with a ritardando of the "Throne Room" music, so it can't be convincingly argued that you're supposed to make a cut out-of-universe precisely when the end credits start. The transition would have to begin at some point before, during the ceremony.

Looking at the other end, with the way the music begins with the fanfare, it very definitely does seem to start out diegetically. But by the time they've gone up the stairs and are waiting for their medals, I've given up trying to maintain the belief that it's in-universe and accepted that the music is a regular musical soundtrack.

 

[Tuskin38]

Fun fact, that parade music played at the end of the The Phantom Menace? It is the Emperor's theme from ROTJ.

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